Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a blend of behavioral and psychoanalytic techniques for treating borderline personality disorders and was founded by Marsha Linehan (Greene, Nevid, & Rathus, 2006). DBT was developed to help patients regulate their emotions and behaviors that are associated with depression. DBT helps patients accept their emotions while helping them change their emotional experiences (Corey, ). It teaches patients skills to cope with stress, regulate emotions and improve relationships with others. DBT is derived from a philosophical process called dialects. It’s based upon the concept that everything is composed of opposites and that change occurs when one opposite force is stronger than the other. DBT was originally developed to treat interpersonal chaos, intense emotional changes, impulsiveness, confusion about self-identity, and suicidal behavior (Dubose, & Aramburu, 2001); all characteristics of a borderline personality disorder. Though, this specific therapy was originally created to treat borderline personality disorder, it is now become quite common in treating eating disorders, self-harming patients, substance abuse, and domestic abuse. DBT is important to the counseling and therapy profession because it allows for a different way of therapeutic communication between the counselor and the client. It sympathizes with the patient and is all about making the client feel accepted and comfortable, rather than constantly pointing out what’s wrong with them and what they need to change (Dubose, & Aramburu, 2001). DBT skills training is not a quick fix approach. It normally involves at least one year of treatment that includes both individual therapy as well as skills training done in a group setting (Corey, ). In DBT, the counselor is mainly there for therapeutic support and validation of acceptance. By the counselor validating the patient's emotions and what they’re thinking it allows the client to look with themselves with